With petroleum ether as extraction solvent, the extraction process of Gardenia oil was studied by solvent method. The extraction time, extraction temperature and ratio of material to liquid were selected as influencing factors. On the basis of single factor experiment, the Box-Behnken experiment of three factors and three levels was carried out and the extraction process of Gardenia oil was optimized by response surface methodology. The results showed that the optimal extraction conditions of Gardenia oil were obtained as follows: extraction time 4 h, extraction temperature 81 ℃, and ratio of material to liquid 1∶5. Under these conditions, the yield of Gardenia oil reached 19.21%, which was close to the predictive value (19.37%), indicating that the optimal conditions obtained were feasible. |